Long Plays Doom Bruton To Loss

BLACKSBURG — The first long play was a pain. After Bruton scored its first touchdown, Northside needed only 47 seconds to equalize on Ryan Keith's 65-yard pass to Donovohn Brown.

The second one hurt. Until that one, the Panthers had pretty much wrapped up Philip Scott, who came into the Division 3 state title game with 2,232 yards rushing. But Scott broke loose for 49 untouched yards to draw Northside within four points late in the third quarter.

The third one? Well, that one was the killer. Dustin Phelps broke behind the Panthers' secondary for a 64-yard reception seven seconds into the fourth quarter, a play that provided the eventual winning points in Northside's 20-17 victory.

Three plays. Three TDs. And of Northside's 296 yards of offense, those three plays produced 178.

On the first one, Harrod said Northside ran a trick play with Brown coming toward the field, then loitering at the sideline before the snap.

"The corner didn't see him," Harrod said.

Brown said of Keith: "I wanted him to throw it deep, but when I saw he was going to throw it quick, I hit my spot. I had to settle down and take what I could get, and luckily what I got was a touchdown."

So at the half, Northside's coaches decided to try to overpower Bruton with their short-yardage, goal-line offense. "We knew we were bigger than them, so we went right at them," Vikings coach Burt Torrence said.

And when slotback Tyler Fisher was able to block linebacker De'Arius Olvis out of the play, Scott had a clear path to the goal once he cleared the line of scrimmage.

"When he did that," Torrence said of Fisher's block, "the seas parted."

Still, none of that would have mattered without play No. 3.

Bruton punted late in the third quarter and on Northside's first snap, Scott ran for 7 yards.

After Scott's run, Torrence said the coaching staff felt like the Vikings could take a shot at the end zone.

"We kept watching and they were substituting out at defensive back to bring in another defensive lineman to try to match us up front," Torrence said.

So coaches called for a play-action pass. Bruton's defenders bit for the fake and Phelps made them pay.

He caught the ball at the 30, and no one came close to challenging him the rest of the way.

"A perfect throw," Phelps said.

Three plays. Three touchdowns. And no state championship for a frustrated Bruton team.